So why is this important? I devised the totally made-up Law of 75 to describe this phenomenon where three out of four people are susceptible to loving communication that calls forth what we hold in common -- the desire to live in peace and happiness, and the willingness to grant others who play by those rules the same freedom / responsibility. 75% of us -- or more -- want the same things, and those same things are far, far more important than the differences that are used to keep us divided and conquered.
I’m willing to bet that 75% of Americans don’t want to live in a corrupt fascist system where George Bush’s word is law, and where our greatest fear is our own government. I could be wrong. Maybe it’s 95% and not 75%.
And what does this mean? It means that Democrats AND Republicans, Greens, Libertarians, Independents -- most Americans -- given a choice (and hey, I say we give it to them) will just say NO to fascism. That 75% of Americans by the way includes rich people and poor people, rural conservatives, urban progressives and even -- and maybe especially -- members of the military, who are experiencing some of the system’s abuse firsthand.
My strong sense is that those people in all echelons of power who have not been “ethically-cleansed” will stand up for justice -- if we will. And -- to quote the football coach George Allen, “the future is now.” Right now, the Bush Administration has the momentum as it illegally uses the law to hide from scrutiny, and sends out kingly decrees equating protest with treason. Bush can’t help it, folks. He has to do it to survive.
Time to Bring Left and Right Front and Center
At the same time we realize he will not and cannot back down, we must remember that 75% of us (a conservative estimate, again, of those who don’t want fascism) -- nearly 200 million people -- are standing on the other side. Now all we have to do is understand our numbers and our bottom line -- fascism in any form must be taken off the table now.
To paraphrase the old saying, those who fail to learn from history flunk it and have to take it over. What was it that allowed Hitler to come to power, to use questionable legal leverage in an illegal way until the disease had so metastasized that it could no longer be cured by the German body politic’s immune system? It was the failure of the parties on the left, the parties on the right and the parties in the middle to unite to face the common danger.
There’s a scene in the documentary, Bringing Down a Dictator -- the story of the fall of Slobodon Milosovic -- where all the leaders of the opposing parties realize they must form a coalition if the dictator is to be stopped. As you look at the expressions on the faces of these leaders, you see how distasteful a task this is for them. And yet they do it. They unite around one alternative candidate, and they are ultimately successful. The pivotal moment, by the way, is when the soldiers realize they will be firing on their brothers and sisters and ultimately put down their guns, and the palace falls.
So, again, what do we do? As part of the “up-wising” there is a growing field of awareness among Americans of all stars and stripes that “we’re not in Kansas, anymore Toto.” There is a groundswell swelling on the ground, but no significant leadership has yet emerged at the top. We can only guess that there is an epidemic of cowardice and denial, and most importantly a “misunderestimation” of the American people, and our own legacy and destiny.
We don’t need a revolution in this country. We already had one. But we are at an evolutionary tipping point, and we the people can’t wait for some big scorer to come lumbering down the court. We have to tip it in ourselves. In other words, we have to face the truth with courage, and we must communicate with others to strengthen the field of truth and weaken the field of lies. The time is now ripe for a national organization that stands up and uses the F-Word to Just Say NO To Fascism. Maybe it can be called the New Moral Majority or Patriots Against the Patriot Act (PAPA) or the Jefferson’s Witnesses or the American Citizens Union.
As an individual I’m not in a position to make this organization happen. But each of us as individuals can put the idea out and call on those who we know are leaders to speak directly to this issue, and some already are. It’s very important IN FACT ESSENTIAL that this be a bipartisan or transpartisan group. In addition to calling on people like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and elders like Bill Moyers, Elizabeth Holtzman and Jimmy Carter, we must include those on the right who have called for impeachment or who are concerned about America’s loss of liberties, including Bruce Fein, John Dean, Paul Craig Roberts and Rep. Ron Paul (R, Texas).
In addition, now is the time for prominent folks to use their bully pulpit to help oust the bully-in-chief from his -- whether it’s a spot on Leno or Letterman, or like Michael Moore it’s on CNN. In fact, watch this and be inspired as we finally have someone break through the media soundless barrier and speak to the betrayal of the American people by the media. Take heart too that Richard Mellon Scaife, one of the most vicious attackers of Bill Clinton and loyal supporters of Bush has now has begun to question the President’s mental stability.
It’s Up to Us to Put the Decider Through the Decider Mill
No matter who we are, no matter how much or little influence we think we have, we all (75% to 95% of us, anyway) share the same mission: To awaken all 200 million adult Americans to draw the line and tell the “Decider” that we the people are the Deciders, thank you. And we have decided he will do no more deciding on our behalf. Impeachment notwithstanding, we need a long, long, long piece of paper with 50 million or more adult American signatures calling on the President and Vice President to step down. We can call it Total Recall, but I like the idea of a physical scroll of signatures. As Benjamin Franklin (“we must all hang together or else we will surely hang separately”) understood, the more of us who sign it, the safer we all will be.
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